Newcastle United’s visit to the Home of Football terminates the first Premier League two-week winter-lull. It pitches 10th against 12th with both teams on 31 points, the Gunners sitting two places above the Magpies by virtue of a better goal difference of -2 compared to their -12. A true mid-table six-pointer! Two other teams share 31 points: Burnley and Southampton, none of these teams being our usual company at this stage of the season.
Arsenal have now gone seven games without defeat under Mikel Arteta but the team’s starting position when he took over on 26th December and a solitary win and four draws in the Premier League explains our present company despite a clear improvement in team spirit and defensive organisation since his appointment. However so far, there has been a disappointing inability to play well for 90 minutes and a paucity in chance creation and conversion.
Over the season to date we have an unusual record of six wins, thirteen draws and six defeats. Only Liverpool have fewer defeats and only the bottom two, Watford and Norwich have fewer wins! We sit ten points off fourth place but only six points off the relegation places. Hopefully the training camp in Dubai will give Mikel a chance to work his magic on the squad as we desperately need to turn draws into wins, starting with this match. Mikel said of this trip:
It was like a mini pre-season. I wanted to use it to work on our principles and our styles of play, and as well how we live together. There are things I want to implement together as a group, not just for the players but for the staff as well. It has been really useful.
It is our principle, our style of play and how we manage the games, how we manage each section of the pitch and clarity. That the players have clarity, that they know and they can recognise the scenarios they are facing and they have the tools for the solutions.
Newcastle are relegation candidates on possession, chance creation, passing stats, expected goals and goals scored but have risen to mid-table due to their goalkeeper’s form (Dubravka wins their MotM nearly every week) and a high spirit, band-of-brothers approach. Their style of play under Mrs Doubtfire is to concede possession, sit deep, prevent chances and hope to nick something on the break. Their attack is reassuringly blunt and twelve of twenty-four PL goals have come from defenders, mainly from set-pieces. Joelinton, the striker bought to replace Rondon has been firing blanks and is by no means a classic Geordie number 9. Saint- Maximin their new creative force adds pace and trickery – no-one knows what he’s going to do next, including himself. The Longstaff brothers and ex-Gunner Isaac Hayden add midfield muscle and the odd goal. Almirón adds a touch of class up front and must be watched. In the January window the Magpies added one of our bêtes noirs, Danny Rose. No doubt the ex-Spud will be fired up for this match now he’s playing for a big club.
Leno will clearly be in goal and Hector has reclaimed the RB slot with improving form since his return from injury. In recent matches Arsenal’s main attacking thrust has come down the left with Saka more than a mere deputy for Tierney and Kolasinac, providing beautiful crosses, assists and goals until he was kicked off the park by Burnley. Tierney remains a long-term absentee but Kolasinic was predicted to be available after the winter-lull. Can he dislodge Saka from the LB slot? A further question is whether Mustafi retains a centre-back spot after his impressive performance against Burnley or loses it to Sokratis or new-signing Pablo Mari (there are lots of rumours that Mari has impressed and is going to start), presuming that arch nose-pincher Luiz holds his place and Holding remains lower down the pick-list.
Midfield will probably be anchored by the recently reliable combo of Torreira and Xhaka but the key question of Özil remains uncertain. I suspect Mikel will start Özil on the basis of recent selections, news that he blocked a permanent January move to Qatar, our need to create more chances and critically, the absence of another natural ‘number 10’ in the squad. Up front I would pick the speed merchants Pepe, Aubameyang and Martinelli, but I suspect Mikel will prefer to keep goal-shy Lacazette in the centre for his hold-up play and Aubameyang wide-left with licence to cut in. Has Pepe done enough in Dubai to convince MA8 to select him over Martinelli on the right? I sincerely hope so. The work done on the training field during the winter-lull may see Mikel change his formula for this must-win match.
The ‘Holic pound? I think Dave would be very optimistic that two weeks of intensive work on the training field will have allowed Mikel Arteta to address many of the problems he has identified since taking over at the beginning of the busy Christmas schedule. So, the ‘Holic pound seeks out the value-bet and is placed on 4-1 to the Arsenal at 18/1. COYG!
First? Now the read the rest of an excellent 1/2 of the preview.
Rumours that Mari has impressed and is going to start? I’d love to see it and for the young man to impress. If it were to happen it is the kind of thing that could kick-start a feel-good factor, not to mention the predicted 4-1 to the Arsenal which could give said feel-good factor a multiplier effect of some multiples. Excellent 2nd of half of preview, Baff. COYG.
A comprehensive preview, Bath. A 4-1 is a bold call but would be a most welcome result. That scoreline is a collector’s item: only seen twice, in December 1927 and December 2014. Hector would be the only survivor from the 2014 game, although Martinez and AMN were on the bench that day when braces from Santi and Giroud gave us such a victory. Without wishing to tempt fate, I would note that we have lost only twice at home in 20 games against the Barcodes this century and that we have never lost to them at home in a February fixture (won four, drawn two).
I won’t be on my normal North Bank perch as I return from my own mid season break, but the DVR will be whirring and I will watch it late Sunday evening. The reverse fixture was our first of the season and we achieved a rare away win under Emery up north. Auba of course was our scorer, but the score only 1-0 to The Arsenal after a scoreless first half. 4-1 is a very ‘holic like optimism and I can’t see it. A gritty 2-0 for me with a brace from Martinelli. Nice preview Bath.
Great preview Bath, I will be following the score line from the slopes. Danny Rose bit made me chuckle 😀
A difficult line up to predict and Mari should be given the nod if he has indeed impressed in Dubai, he can’t do a Mustafi I suppose then again he can do a Mari but we won’t know if we are going to keep him on the bench.
An optimistic ‘Holic pound it has to said and rightly so, I believe we deserve a convincing win after all we have been through this season.
COYG!
Bath
An excellent preview in terms of its optimism and comprehensive analysis . When we kicked off the season with a solid 1-0 away win little did we think that we would win so rarely afterwards, defend so badly and find ourselves so close to the Geordies. I remain an Arteta enthusiast and believer and hope he has been able to instil drive, enthusiasm , organisation and more creativity in the trip to Dubai. Let us hope it will kickstart a very positive end to the season .
Tye game will be played in the midst of Storm Dennis ( an omen?) but TTG will be absent . I have been asked to look after my grandsons following a 90th birthday lunch with a family friend . Any permission to depart for the match are destroyed by the fact that an old friend is taking me to the Valley on Saturday, the date arranged so it did not clash with our home fixture . I shall be an interested TV spectator and believe we will win a solid 2-0 victory .
Our wage bill is the fourth highest in the Premier League. These are the average annual salaries paid by the top 15 clubs . It might be said our squad is underperforming!
Rank // Club // Average annual pay
1 // Manchester City // £6,987,500
2 // Manchester United // £6,125,600
3 // Liverpool // £5,537,600
4 // Arsenal // £4,790,240
5 // Chelsea // £4,774,000
6 // Everton // £4,101,760
7 // Tottenham Hotspur // £3,961,043
8 // Leicester City // £3,352,960
9 // West Ham // £3,022,240
10 // Crystal Palace // £2,887,500
11 // Southampton // £2,299,440
12 // Wolves // £2,197,565
13 // Newcastle // £2,086,240
14 // Watford // £2,025,111
15 // Aston Villa // £1,965,600
The stats guys suggest that club salary spend bears the closest link to league position in European leagues and possibly globally. This wouls suggest that our players have indeed been underperforming. Digging further down the parameter is useful as a measure of squad quality and much more so than transfer outlay as it relates to retaining quality players rather than buying expensive starlets. However I would suggest that our place on that table is deceptive as our salary spend has been distorted by the inappropriately generous contracts offered to Mesut Özil and Mkhytarian, also to unreliable players such as Xhaka and Mustafi while we have a record of even paying over the odds for mediocre talent such as Elneny and Ospina to the point that we couldn’t offload them. We have got ourselves in a right pickle!
Notably absent from your list, TTG, is Sheffield United who presumably pay less than Villa who are in the 15th spot. Also getting a good return on salary money spent is Leicester City in 8th spot, but sitting 3rd in the table. Manchester United, not so good a value (HA HA HA).
bt8b: We pay Ozil alone more each week than Sheffield United pays its first-team squad.
Another fine detailed review Bath. The fact we are sitting level on points with our next visitors shows the decline in our fortunes in stark fact. Our eyes have not deceived us, the rapid disassembly of the team under Emery was quite astounding. Mikel’s appointment came none too soon and the team are now playing…….as a team – with firm leadership from the coach. Let us hope that the break away has enabled him to revive the attacking part of the team, without the flair & goals returning we will remain mid table amongst the other also rans.
Newcastle visiting us have yielded some good wins over the years and I feel another one will follow. The premiership is proving there are few pushovers any more – Mrs Doubtfire has pushed the Toon into mid table alongside us – a position above their expectation. Another hard fought match ( are there any other type nowadays ) and with the scoring touch re-discovered 3-1 to the good guys.
COYG
Great preview thanks Bath.
An accurate description of a poor
Newcastle side and I’ll be annoyed
if we let them score. Though to be
fair they’ve beaten Spuds, Chavs,
and Manure this season as well as
getting a draw at Shitty and winning
at Sheff Utd. Only Leicester (twice)
have tanked them I think.
It’s actually quite an important game
as it’s the first of three in a row at home
in the PL and after our first break together.
This is as good a chance as we are
going to get this season to put a
string of wins together. Win this
first one and the knock on effect
will be positive going into the
coming games. Don’t win and I fear
that effect will also be apparent.
I’ll take another 1-0 personally.
Any footballer on more than
a £100 a week is overpaid in
my opinion
If Kola is fit and is picked then
Saka is probably another
candidate to play further
forward on the left.
Right centre back is anyone’s
guess really. I hope MA does
persevere with Pepe as he can
dribble and that may be useful
to unlock a packed Newcastle
defence.
OM@13: It has all been downhill since 1961 when football abolished the maximum wage and Johnny Haynes became the first £100-a-week player…
Ned,
Well, he was an Arsenal supporter
so we can let that one go 🙂
To be honest I think we’re about
where we should be in terms of
overall wages. Of course there’ll
always be arguments about who’s
getting how much of the pot.
The monks have dug out the report that TTG’s post @7 is extracted from. It shows Sheffield United’s annual average pay to be £728,000, or £14,000 a week, the lowest in the Premier League.
The accompanying commentary to the numbers for the Premiership says:
If money alone talks, then Manchester City would be wrapping up a third straight title ahead of local rivals United, with Liverpool third, then Arsenal, Chelsea and … Everton. Sheffield United, Norwich and Brighton would be heading down. Correlation between wage spending and finishing position has been strong across all of Europe’s elite leagues for years, especially in England. This season it seems likely that disfunction at multiple ‘big’ clubs will be highlighted by finishing positions below expectation, while excellence on relatively small budgets will be highlighted elsewhere.
The report compares team salaries across sports and countries. Sheffield United’s average pay is lower than the highest average in the J-League (Vissel Kobe at £1,257,790) but higher than the highest average in the MLS (Toronto at £606,677). They all pale in comparison to the salaries in the best paid sports league in the world, the National Basketball League in the United States, where the Portland Trail Blazers heads the list with and annual average salary of £8,031,862. Only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus top that in any sport anywhere.
Sheffield United’s wage policy seems to be yielding maximum return, Ned.
It will be interesting to see where they stand in the wage table in 12 months’ time however, and especially if they have managed to retain all the players who brought them to their currently exalted position in the league table.
Doubly interesting in light of what I read recently about Sheffield Utd being owned by one of the richer men in the world.
I tried to look up the name of Sheffield United’s owner ( some Saudi Arabian bloke) but got bogged down by more interesting stuff on their Wikipedia page. One of their most famous supporters is Michael Palin.
Abdullah bin Musad bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud Galaz is the name you are looking for, bt8b. He is Prince Musa’id bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud’s son and grandson of Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia. Michael Palin is so much easier to remember.
You make a good point about Sheffield United’s wage bill next season. The contracts of eight of the first team squad expire at the end of this season, and another six at the end of next. However, even if the club was to double all its senior players’ wages, that would still move them just one place up the annual average league table to 19th. It would have to at least quintuple the current figure to get close to reflecting the club’s position in the real league table.
I figured there must be a tie-in to Saudi oil riches somewhere along the line, Ned. Judging from what you say about the lengths of their contracts It sounds like many of their stars could be looking for a big payday, and soon. Unless some of these Sheffield United figures are only the “unofficial” salaries before bonuses, etc. (Which would be highly upsetting to those of us who like to be able to compare like for like in our research, I should point out.)
I watched a decent chunk of the ladies game tonight. They struggled to a 3-2 win away to a Liverpool side who had only scored four goals all season before tonight.
It was interesting to see the effect that confidence and belief has on a team. When I saw them in November in the NLD they were flying, very compact and kept the ball beautifully. Tonight they were without Kim Little but they had a lot of very poor individual performances, were sloppy defensively and without Miedema struggled to raise a threat in attack. Their confidence has been shattered by the thrashing from Chelsea .
Let’s hope they can regroup before the Champions League restarts
I expressed myself badly when writing about Miedema. She played..and starred but she was the shining light upfront. When she wasn’t involved we struggled
I attach the obituary for the Guvna that will appear in this weekend’s Gooner
I am most grateful to Bath for his help in editing it and tidying it up
Goonerholic remembered
Through the joy and excitement of a family Christmas, my celebrations were significantly tempered by the news which came through on Christmas Day of the death of Dave Faber, a man known as ‘Goonerholic’ to countless Arsenal fans all over the world. Such was his fame throughout the Goonerverse that Arsenal included an obituary in the programme for the Chelsea game.
Dave had run the Goonerholic blog since 2006, was a regular podcaster on ‘A Bergkamp Wonderland’ and he was featured in a special interview in the Gooner a few years ago. He had suffered increasing ill-health over the last few months and his last blog covered the Palace game back in October when the infamous ‘Xhakagate’ incident caused him much perplexity and distress.
Dave was born in Whittington Hospital in North London in 1957. He, like so many of us, was thankfully born into a strongly Arsenal-supporting family and his first visit to his beloved Highbury came in 1963 to see a Fairs Cup game against Royal Liege, a game we recalled together in our last conversation online on the evening of our home game with Standard Liege a few weeks ago. That visit etched itself on his heart and he became a committed and passionate Arsenal fan, enduring the privations of the sixties which he described so well in his piece in ‘And Paddy got up’, the Arseblog commemoration which ‘Blogs’ reproduced in tribute to Dave in his Boxing Day eulogy. Dave enjoyed many wonderful times later in his supporting life but was desperately sad that we couldn’t hold on in Paris in 2006 to clinch ‘the cup with the big ears’. He was not alone!
It is one of the sadnesses of my Arsenal – supporting life that I did not get to know Dave better in person. He was an immensely warm, kind and generous man who embodied so much of what is good about supporting our club. In recent seasons after some demoralising performances he was able to craft sane and balanced perspectives within minutes of the game ending. He might have been considered a trifle benign by some modern supporters as he did not rush to suggest wholesale change and savage criticism but he wasn’t one to produce clickbait headlines, especially if it might lead to a negative perception of the club he loved.
In preparation for this piece I asked some of his friends for stories which illustrate his character. I was besieged with stories including how he provided a special link for the club with Israeli supporters and how when an American reader of the blog visited London he took a day off to come up from Swindon specially to show him around the club, his favourite hostelries and of course, Piebury Corner!
Perhaps one story illustrates the character of the man better than others. At the Cup Final against Hull Dave got the opportunity to sit with two great mates in the Executive Club at Wembley. A fine lunch was taken and then he suffered through that horrendous start where we trailed 2-0 and were trailing 2-1 at half-time. Five minutes into the second half his phone rang and after a serious conversation he informed his colleagues that he had to leave because ‘a mate was in trouble’. Knowing how much he loved the club that would have been a horrendous sacrifice but it illustrated what a true and staunch friend he was and how much people mattered to him.
The loss of his incomparable regular blogs is a huge sadness and many of us (from all over the world) who so valued the community which he built, intend to continue the forum he built and to showcase the quality of his writing for the benefit of future generations and for those who just like to read great insights and commentary about Arsenal.
Much more than this so many people have lost a fellow Gooner, mentor and special friend. A man who for so many, embodied so much of what is good about supporting our club and who had the gift of expressing that in such a special and enjoyable way. A man whose own warm and generous nature engendered respect and love not only in those who met him in person but also in those who only knew him from the Goonerholic blog, his Tweets about Arsenal, cricket and music and his wit and wisdom as a guest on the Arsecast and Bergkamp Wonderland podcast.
Dave, you are hugely missed. Rest in Peace, mate.
i’m sitting here, sick as a dog after four days of intense vertigo, come to the site to read bath’s piece on sunday’s. and read an excellent preview (thanks, baff), some top comments, and then get to ttg’s @25. beautifully written. captured who he was online perfectly. not having met him i can’t say it captured his person perfectly, but can hardly see how it wouldn’t have. thank you for sharing it here for those who don’t get the gooner, ttg. i hope you’re over the lurge, and enjoy the coming arsenal victory over those birds as much as i do.
rest in peace, holic. i hope what we’re doing here is making you grin up top. put in a good word for sunday, yeah?
Masterful, TTG@25. A simply wonderful tribute to the Guv’nor.
COYG
A truly wonderful tribute to the Guv’nor TTG – you encapsulated everything that made him so special.
Thank you TTG for a wonderful job of capturing Goonerholic. It should stand as the new site’s tribute to Dave, and OM’s suggestion of putting it on a tab next to The Guvnor’s Rules sounds like an excellent idea.
As others have said, beautifully put, TTG.
The long years of the winterlull
are finally drawing to a close
with some early daffodils of team
news. Kola, Saka and Nelson are
all available. Mari isn’t.
The team thus looks like
Leno
Hector Mus Luiz Saka
Xhaka Torreira
Pepe Ozil Auba
Laca
Subs Emi, AMN, Papa, Guen,
Joe W, Martinelli, Nelson
Though Kola or Papa may just
as easily start. And I wonder
about Rob, Dani and Eddie too
who may not even make the
bench
om, mostly agree: i’d swap eddie to the bench for amn…gives us a burst of real speed up front if needed at the end of the game as laca tires. martinelli can then come in for either of auba or pepe. and maybe switch, as you indicate, papa for mus, just because i prefer…
Thankyou for the kind words on the Guvna’s obituary.
The actual mag will be on sale at the match on Sunday .
I think Matt is pretty spot-on with the team and may even have the bench right too although I think Kola and Eddie May make the bench. If Storm Dennis relents !
Cheers Bath!
Going on Sunday – deep joy! First game since August when sadly I last saw Dave.
Esso@34, hopefully will catch up with you at Dave’s usual spot post-match. I hope we’re happy bunnies!
TTG, was it for the print or online edition? If so, where’s the link to the online edition? I can edit the page, which currently references it was originally for pub in the online edition.
Scruz,
The magazine isn’t out until tomorrow in either edition. I jumped the gun by attaching my own copy of my article which I sent to the editor . I don’t subscribe to the online edition . I will get the print copy tomorrow
With Citeh banned from the Champions League for two years it means that Sheffield United on 39 points are currently in tye fourth qualifying position. That will make it extremely competitive for the fourth English place
so, online or not, it’s ”the gooner”? do you know the issue/volume?
Sorry Scruz
I don’t but will let you know tomorrow when it arrives
City will appeal its 2-year European ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, so this one has a ways to go yet.
I also wonder if this case will accelerate a breakaway of the top European clubs from UEFA.
Scruz @39: https://www.onlinegooner.com/printedIssues/latest I can get you one on Sunday and add it to your tab, if you want.
Ned@41: Spot on. There will be very expensive lawyers leading camels laden with bags of cash wending their way to UEFA HQ and the Court of Arbitration in Sport as we gloat. By no means the final judgement.
cheers, baff, that would be great! pic is up, some edits coming.
edits done.
Good stuff, scruz. A fitting addition to the site.
@32 scruz
Agree it would be good to have
Eddie on the bench not least
for morale,and if Papa does play
then Mus would offer some RB
cover (in theory) on the bench.
Feel a bit for Rob who’s gone from
CB saviour while he was out to
5th choice CB on the back of a
couple of iffy games returning from
a long term injury
No tears from me for Shitty.
Be interesting to see how it
plays out – my expectation is
CAS arbitrating it to a 1 year
ban.
And should add a little spice to
Shitty’s CL games – I’d imagine
they’ll be desperate to win it
this season.
I think Matt is right. They will reduce it to one year and it may well accelerate a breakaway European League. I’m not sure we’d be asked to that party at the present time . For Saracens read Citeh
Well in for that 50 TTG.
I think if it ever comes the
breakaway league will be based
on brand image / revenue
potential rather than current
league position.
I did wonder if the ownership
models of the Bundesliga clubs
might make it trickier for them
to join.
If any appeal takes several
months then I’d assume Shitty
would take part in CL next
season if there is no CAS decision.
Though I have no idea of how long
it will actually take – I do wonder
why it should take any time as the
world and its aunt can see they have
been guilty for the last several years.
I hear there’s talk of a points
deduction now, which would
be largely meaningless I think.
The punishment should fit the
crime so my, I think fair and
sensible, solution is that they
be made to change the name
of the club to Man Cheaty for
a period of 5 years.
I can’t see a possible justification for CAS reducing the ban to 1 year. Surely they’re being asked whether the offence occurred.
To a footy fan, that decision seems largely to come down to which club you support. You either believe “it’s bleeding obvious” that ¢iti have been at it for years or, that the Oilers’ explanations are entirely credible. I’d imagine that a non-footy fan would be better able than me to decide on the credibilty issue.
Thus, I expect that CAS will either throw out the charge – no ban, no fine – or uphold it – retain ban, retain fine, conceivably increase them on the basis that they’ve been wasting the court’s time.
COYG
Soton and Burnley, our rivals on 31 points, currently drawing. Come on the draw!
OM@52: a typical appeal to the CAS takes six months to one year, according to the FAQs on the CAS website.
https://www.tas-cas.org/en/general-information/frequently-asked-questions.html
@54: 🙂
Pangloss @55: it would appear from previous cases that the CAS has broad discretion in its rulings. It has upheld and rejected appeals, upheld them in part, upheld them and lessened the sanction, and in once case changed the sanction altogether as it deemed it to be inappropriate.
Ten minutes to go and Burnley lead. Time for a Southampton equaliser.
Burnley win. We drop a place that requires a win tomorrow to regain on goal difference (and remarkably leave us possibly only five points off a CL place, assuming City stay banned.)
City will surely stay banned until tomorrow, Ned. 😉
Is it certain that there will be four teams from England?
Apparently yes, we will keep 4
teams regardless
Interesting comments by Nuno Espírito Santo and the Wolves players about their goal disallowed by VAR yesterday. Offside? Possibly, by a hair or two. Was the player gaining any advantage by it? Clearly not.
Mike Dean and the wizards of VAR strike again.
Interesting (?) followup piece in the Gruaniad, somewhat debunking Man¢iti’s complaints about UEFA bias. (Warning: Some political content. Adding this link is not intended to imply that I endorse the contemporary political views alluded to. Equally, the preceding disclaimer should not be taken to imply that I do not endorse them.)
There’s a link in mine@64 above. Don’t be fooled by the lack of highlighting.
Scruz,
It’s simply Edition no 282.
It’s the last two pages in the magazine , a perfect position to pay tribute to the great man. Nice pictures of him too.
ttg, is the way i have the ode ok?
@64
Was that the David Conn piece
Pangloss? I pressed my fat thumb
randomly to the screen but it didn’t link.
Anyway, I’d read the article already
and on the surface the bias claims
look weak.
Based on Ned’s information of a 6-12
month period for appeals it seems
likely there won’t be any impact this
season, which is not good short-term
news but might be helpful next season.
OM yes, it was the David Conn piece; it should have been linked from the words “the Grauniad” but I seem to have cocked it up somehow as my fat thumb won’t make it work either.
Scruz,
Not quite sure what you mean?
Re Citeh I haven’t read the Conn piece ( excellent journalist though he is ) but have read a lot of other stuff about their flagrant cheating. Their charge sheet has accumulated into a litany of shame .
I went to Charlton yesterday . The first time for 54 years . That’s a club that has been screwed into the ground by mercenary owners, saw its ground descend into virtually a refuse dump and survive by moving around as tenants of clubs who didn’t want them there …but they survived because at their core there were supporters who cared and wouldn’t let the club die. The essence of that club has an honesty that those fomenting the social media storm that Citeh are mounting will never understand .Citeh are an artificial construct of a very rich man with no class and presumably very questionable morals. They can take this case to every court in the world because they have the money …but they will never have the respect of the football world again and no one will ever respect their trophies.
Team Sky, Salazar , Saracens and now Manchester City. A procession of cheats and scumbags
TTG, Does Roman Abramovich merit a place in your procession of scumbags?
Great stuff, Bath !
The Guvnor would approve 👍🏻
Thanks Trev. Appreciate that.
Just nipping along to Stroud Green for a nice lunch then a meander down to see if Mikel’s maestro’s can masticate the Magpies. Fingers crossed.
MA8 as quoted by football365.com: “I was considering a situation at Newcastle United that could change my professional and personal life,” he said on the eve of their meeting on Sunday.
“I had to put everything on the table to make that decision. I made the decision to stay where I was at the time.”
Arteta believes Newcastle made the right choice by bringing in Steve Bruce.
“I believe that Newcastle are happy,” he added. “What Steve has brought to the club has been really, really good.
“The performances and results, compared to where they were last year, they are above any expectation.
“He has put together a team with great spirit and is a manager with massive, massive experience.”
Massive, massive experience being the nice way to say really, really old although it turns out Bruce is younger than me, as he turns 60 on New Year’s Eve. Bruce seemed to have a good game plan in place for Wigan in the 2014 FA Cup final, but I don’t think he accounted for Gibbs heading that one off the line when Wigan could have been done and dusted. Or Santi scoring on that free kick before halftime. Or Laurent Koscielny leveling the match before the end of regulation time. Or Aaron Ramsey scoring the winner 11 minutes from the end of extra time. Good manager for the first 30 minutes though.
The coach can set up the team and inform the tactics, bt8b, but in the end it is the players that win or lose a game.
Ned. I sure wish we had Santi warmed up and ready for action today. 🙂
Or anybody who’s inclined to score us a big goal or two. COYG. and Villa, just today.
TTG@70: The pecuniary rewards of winning in sport are now so much higher than ever before. Thus, so is the temptation to win by whatever means necessary, especially for those who see football primarily as a money-making enterprise, a cadre that increasingly monopolises the ownership of the top clubs. Manchester City is different, however, from the others in your hall of shame in as much as it is part of an effort by the UAE to project its diplomatic power through sporting success. That, too, though requires a moral compass of its own.
bt8b: At this point, I’d take anyone able to score big or small goals, as long as they are winning goals.
Some pre-match trivia: We haven’t seen Lee Mason reffing a game of ours since the 4-1 win over West Ham in April 2018. The only previous time he has been in the middle for an Arsenal v Newcastle game was in December 2014, when we also won 4-1 (Santi got a brace, bt8b). Overall, we have a good record in the games he officiates, winning 18 of 28, drawing seven and losing three. Newcastle have lost 13 of the 30 games of theirs he has reffed, winning eleven and drawing six.
Ned. I am wondering if PMGOL saw those stats too and made sure Mason had a multi year hiatus from reffing Arsenal games. Not to fall into Steve T.’s trap and blame the referee before the game has started, of course. 🙂
Here’s hoping all that warm weather training in dry, sunny Dubai puts us in good stead for today’s wet and cold conditions in north London.
Norway or Nova Scotia next time?
Bugger. That is the last time I will expect Villa to do anything to benefit Arsenal. Until the next time they play Spurs, after Villa comeback up the next time.
Come on Dani!
Come on Eddie!
All change, it is what we have been waiting for so let’s see some performances out there on the slippery wet surface.
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Luiz, Saka, Ceballos, Xhaka, Ozil, Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang
Subs: Martinez, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Torreira, Willock, Martinelli, Lacazette
all change indeed, bt8. shocked that ceballos is in midfield with xhaka!
Perfectly willing to watch the coming of age of Eddie Nketiah along with a few million other viewers.
it’s nearly our quickest team up front and on the wings.
Bt8
That’s a good question. Chelsea have not been saintlike and have had a transfer ban but the level of their perfidy is nowhere near that of Citeh. One might argue that Citeh’s owners might have been prompted to follow the Chelsea way , spending hitherto unimagined amounts to buy success but like Chelsea they have ‘won’ a lot of trophies . I have to say that the model that commands most respect is Liverpool. Sell big and replace with extreme quality at cheaper prices
It seemed like Ceballos’ injury was one of those under the radar news stories. I hope he takes his chance today and makes it impossible for Arteta to overlook him, Scruz
agreed, bt. i just hope our defense is up to the task, being shielded by xhaka, and containing mustafi.
Steve Bruce appears to have gone heavily with the ex-Spurs approach with Bentaleb and Danny Rosebin his starting XI.
No sign of rain so far on the telly. Lazaro looking dangerous on the wing for Newcastle, but play so far is pretty even.
Saka goes close-ish.
not quite sure what we are doing right now, 25 minutes in.
pepe putting in a shift, at any rate.
özil magic on that buildup. they aren’t seeing eddie…a rookie thing?
nice snapshot eddie, from özil.
better the last 10 minutes. ceballos hurt.
he’s ok.
i guess bruce has them training on the 3m board.
First half an hour it could have been Emery in charge.
Too slow in moving ball. Xhaka plays like a crab, wide men not creating impact . Auba needs to be central. Only Ozil and Ceballos looking to inject any pace
A bold selection from MA,
especially in midfield.
45 minutes more to see if it
can work out. COYGS!!!
Will this be our 14th draw. It should tell you something if you cannot score at home against Newcastle.
Thank you thank you and praise be to Auba. Now can we carry it through?
what a fucking great way to eat breakfast, watching those two goals. saka’s nutmeg was brilliant.
bt@104, nope. unless we fall apart at the back.
a clean sheet and a goal from eddie would round out the first part of my morning.
breakfast several hours away
Scruz but it was still fucking
great!!!!
see it through
have you gone to sleep matt? or just stay up for it?
too bad, needing a stretcher for the geordie.
no, just a sub. and lt11 on for dani, good sub, mikel.
eddie gets a standing ovation, off for laca.
Only one team has lost fewer games than Arsenal, so there. Also we have now won more games than we have lost, assuming we hang on.
no more than özil deserved. he has had his best game in ages today.
öz gets a stander as well, he was awesome today.
Tried to stay up Scruz, fell asleep
(like us at the start) woke up and
will go back to sleep soon after
the final whistle – life as a gooner
with 1.30am kick offs 🙂
3-0!!!
well in, matt! this one will give you sweet dreams 🙂
lacaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
just an outstanding second half. all the rest of the season like that, please. i LOVE how everyone is so happy for laca. and four different goal scorers, thank you very much…
We cantered it in the second half when we started moving the ball quickly . Two CBs were very solid but the full-backs and Xhaka make mistakes that might have cost against a better side . But Ceballos and Ozil were excellent and you saw the value of a great striker in Auba . That first goal changed everything
agreed, though i thought saka had a much better game than hector, who seriously seems to have lost his blazing pace. still very good, but got caught wanting a couple times. the wizard of öz MOTM for me…
Positive goal differential.
Clean sheet.
Took one for the team by walking the dog and going out to breakfast with the family, turning off the Telly after 20 minutes of the first half with the play turgid and the score nil-nil to the nobody. My involvement has been le, I feel.
le=key to give myself the credit I tried to claim the first time
Bt8
It was you wot done it !
Thanks to you and your dog for
taking one for the team there bt8!
Give that boy (girl?) a postman
snack as a treat
He has been trying to eat the postman for quite some time, OM, but will be glad to have your license. 🙂
Scruz,
I think you pick up a good point on Hector. He made quite a few mistakes today and he was up against a real greyhound . Lee Dixon feels that Saka may ultimately revert back to being a winger because he needs a lot of work defensively but he did well today . We should not ignore the fact that we have had two clean sheets in a row and we only conceded at Bournemouth in the last minute . Mustafi and Luiz are doing well as a partnership – never thought I’d say that !
ttg, agreed about mus and luiz; as you say, two straight clean sheets. frightening though that pair is, in terms of them having a bad mistake in them at any time.
i’ll give hector a pass, for now. it can take a year or more playing to fully get back at the races after such an injury.
was saka meant to be anything *but* a winger? he’s stopgap, but one hell of a stopgap.
Bloody hell, but it’s been quiet here today, and in the house of Lordsother place. It’s almost as though I’m not the only drinker here who’s nervous as a kitten every time the Arsenal take the field these days. A good result for the boys today, and I can but hope, a sign of Good Things to come.
A 4-0 win. Four different scorers. Best game for ages for Özil. What’s not to like. No fairytale help from Aston Villa, but if I didn’t believe we could achieve St Tott’s this year by our own efforts, I’d be ready to give up. Which I certainly am not. The same goes for Wolves, Sheffield United, Everton and Burnley. They may have as many, or more, points as us at present, but that is just an unfortunate side-effect of our having had a shit season so far. We are turning it around and really, the only sensible thing for fans of those teams, and Manchester United and Tottenham to do is to invest in more underwear.
The Arsenal are on the way back! Say it loud, say it clear and say it often. Believe, fellow drinkers, believe. Seven points off fourth; I could almost believe it myself.
COYG
OK It warmed up a bit in the 20-odd minutes it took me to type up my last epistle. (And the words “house of Lords” should have been struck-through.)
Amen to all of that @ 131 Pangloss.
Was Lionel Messi as good as Saka at age 18? Serious question. Was Henry? That lad is such a talent. Sign him up really tight, Mikel. (Not to play LB, by the way, we have Kieran Tierney for that).
Scruz @ 120, all the rest of the season like that second half AND the first half of the Chel$ki home game please.
In other news, I drove the length of the country from London to the Mystical, Magical Kingdom of Fife today. With every newscast I was informed that storm Dennis was ripping the f*ck out of the country and multiple deaths by drowning were more imminent than morbidity inducement by Coronavirus in Wuhan.
In the real world, it was like a mid-summer jaunt. Could not have been easier. WTF? Is Downing St writing the weather bulletins now?
Spending the afternoon watching the recording of the game after a delicious late breakfast. Arsenal currently leading 2-0 after 61 minutes and Eddie could have scored two more. At least he is getting into the right positions.
Hear hear Pangloss.
I’m exactly the same watching this Arsenal but Arteta is rapidly restoring my belief.
We are capable of winning our next six games , three in the league and have yet to play the Totts, Wolves and Everton . We can get fifth , win the Europa League and the FA Cup . Chin up !
These new tablets are realllly gooood !
35 passes in the build up to our third goal today. Most for any PL goal this season. That second half was exactly what we needed. Özil imperious between the lines. The wingers pulling the defenders all over the place. Goals from BamBam, Pepe, Özil and Laca. AND a clean sheet. Just what the doctor ordered. Well done MA8.
Just seen the highlights. Excellent second half. Something seemed to have switched on. Hope it kickstarts a run of wins. If we can get that, we can move up the table. Goal difference has turned positive and we now have more wins than losses, too. Two turns suggesting we are moving in the right direction.
Delighted that Laca has broken his scoring drought. It had that bit of luck that he has been missing for weeks. Hopefully, the floodgates will open for him now.
One other observation: playing Ceballos and Ozil in midfield lets Ozil play far farther forward than when we play two of Xhaka, Torriera and Guendouzi as DMs. He is much more dangerous when he is up between the lines. Once Ceballos started playing the ball forward, Ozil was really able to open up the passes in the final third and we started creating shooting chances.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>